The present invention relates in general to nail enamel compositions, and more particularly, to such compositions which are suitable for coating natural and synthetic nails. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to nail enamel compositions which produce a film having a decorative appearance.
Nail enamel compositions include a class of nail care products regularly used by women as part of their beauty care routine. These nail care products are available in a multitude of product formulations, from clears to infinite colors. Typically, clear nail enamel compositions include a film forming polymer, a film forming resin, a plasticizer and one or more solvents. In the case of a color nail enamel composition, the product may also include a thixotropic compound, a suspending agent and one or more pigments, or in the alternative, an organic coloring polymer may be used. In addition to these components, a number of optional and proprietary components are often included such as UV light absorbers, moisturizers, stabilizers, fragrances and the like.
Nail enamel compositions have heretofore been formulated to satisfy a number of highly desirable film forming properties. For example, desirable properties often include smoothness of application, rapid dry time, scratch resistance, detergent and oil resistance, lustrous appearance, wear and chip resistance and the like. Often most important, it has been highly desirable that the resulting nail enamel film be smooth and uninterrupted by imperfections, for example, orange peel effect, wrinkling, cracking, pitting, bubbling and the like. To this end, nail enamel compositions have included many different types of additives in order to improve the aforementioned desirable properties of the resulting film.
Despite the improved properties of the nail enamel film, the aesthetic or decorative appearance differed very little, except generally for color. Often, manufacturers would produce nail enamel compositions having the same popular colors as their competitors. This provided little distinction between nail enamel products of different manufacturers to the ultimate consumer. Nail enamel compositions having a more decorative appearance were produced by including small pieces of light reflecting decorative material known as glitters within the composition. From the foregoing, it can be appreciated that the appearance of nail enamel compositions have differed very little over the years. To this end, the present invention provides a nail enamel composition which produces a film having a textured decorative appearance heretofore unknown.
Paints and lacquers for furniture and home remodeling applications having an irregular film, for example, a wrinkle or crackle finish have been known for many years. For example, paints and lacquers having a crackle finish are known from Egelhoff, U.S. Pat. No. Re. 16,760; Neuhaus, U.S. Pat. No. 2,021,152; Rees, U.S. Pat. No. 2,350,818; Thacker, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 2,612,456; Hookway, U.S. Pat. No. 2,714,560; and Oates, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,601,876. Paints and lacquers having a wrinkle finish are known from Root, U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,689,892 and 1,732,661; Small, U.S. Pat. No. 2,248,254; Ficher, U.S. Pat. No. 2,576,290; McBride, U.S. Pat. No. 2,763,568; Neuhaus, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,506,474; Kirch, U.S. Pat. No. 3,829,323; and Okamoto, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,812,336. These known paints and lacquers are not suitable for human contact due to the inclusion of generally toxic compounds and those which are not approved by the FDA.
Despite these known paints and lacquers, there has generally been unknown any variety of nail enamel compositions containing non-toxic components which when applied to natural or synthetic nails will produce a film having a textured decorative appearance.
Socci et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,139,822 discloses aqueous nail enamel compositions which form a decorative irregular film containing uniform or random cracks upon drying. For example, the '822 patent discloses irregular films having cracks in the nature of fissures or complete or partial splits, breaks or fine lines in the nail enamel film that produce, for example, slight or narrow spaces or voids, including hairline cracks and large voids. Like the '822 patent, the present invention discloses aqueous nail enamel compositions which produce irregular films which exhibit a decorative appearance by virtual forming a plurality of voids in a uniform, random or irregular pattern.